Campus Life

Set up a campus visit and be sure to tour Lourdes Commons, our amazing 1 and 2-bedroom apartments. If possible, make it an overnight stay to explore the possibilities in our hometown and neighboring communities.

About the Planetarium

Technology

The Appold Planetarium features SciDome, a single projector fulldome video system powered by Starry Night that allows real-time 3D sky simulation, fulldome shows and multi-media presentations. Starry Night is the world’s most comprehensive astronomy software. Its starfield quality allows astronomical detail and teaching capabilities that carry visitors to the stars!

Appold Planetarium Celebrates 5th Anniversary

Award

The Appold Planetarium was named “the Best Place to See the Stars” by Ohio Magazine in 2010.

About

Thanks to generous donors James and Patricia Appold, the Appold Planetarium has allowed for the expansion of astronomy instruction for Lourdes’ undergraduate programs, as well as biology and education. The public shows bring a wide cross section of the community and has been used to educate people of all ages, from preschoolers through senior citizens. Lourdes students, staff, and faculty receive discounted admission to public shows.

The Appold Planetarium is part of the NASA Museum Alliance, which enables us to bring the latest space news to our audiences. The Appold Planetarium also participates in NASA’s Space Place program. This program provides printed educational materials for our display area, much of which we are able to then pass on to our visiting teachers.

Planetarium coordinator Dr. Laura J. Megeath was selected to be a part of NASA’s Earth Ambassador Program. This nationwide, two-year program is housed through NASA’s Climate Day initiative and to raise awareness of climate change in order to improve the climate literacy in the United States. Dr. Megeath attended a training workshop at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and will be incorporating information about climate change in planetarium programming.

Comments from teachers:

It is a diamond that is not well known at the high school level and has great potential.

That it was geared towards my students, and was a personal “live” presentation — not just a pre-recorded one.

Excellent program at a low cost! Would recommend to all our teachers.

They were very spot on with Ohio’s Earth and Space Science Standards for 5th grade.

The program was very informative for students and kept their attention with the amazing visual display.

Dr. M gave us a visual presentation of the solar system, and helped us visualize distances, sizes, and movements of planets in ways we’re unable to in a classroom setting.

The information shared solidified what I had taught. It also helped me see what previous knowledge my kids have. It gave me great confidence for the Ohio Achievement Assessment.

We are studying astronomy this quarter and this visit was an incredible journey through space. My students asked many questions and they were all answered very clearly.

I would gladly bring a group back. The material kept their attention and they learned quite a bit. That was obvious by discussions heard during lunch and on the return trip home.